Yet more monsters

These watercolor monsters are fun!

Maybe it is the fact that they are unplanned.

Or maybe it is the pretty colors.

Or maybe even that i was NOT going to "use" them in any way!

Sometimes, when i start a piece that I have plans for, like if i want it to "become" fabric, or a card set, or a page of a book, then the pressure is on to do it perfectly. 

With these, as with a mandala, there is no right or wrong really, and i can just have fun.

In my head, as i have been for weeks, i am still trying to come up with the cutest, friendliest and at the same time slightly scary monster for the fabric series I wanted to make, but this type of watercolor monster was just a bit of practice in my sketchbook, and so i was free to play. I don't have any idea what the monster will look like when I start just smudging on watercolor paint. But then it appears!

Sometimes a bit of play is just what you need, and sometimes the play ends up better than the planned piece. 

And if that happens, even if it is in my sketchbook, i can still use it for the end product since most of my end projects now involve a print or photo of the art and not the original anyway.

So really, after saying all that, now I realize The Difference is all in my head. 

If i could start every piece with the same attitude i start these watercolor monsters then painting would ALWAYS be just fun.

(Well, it mostly is just fun anyhow)

but my point is; I do sometimes get caught up in wanting perfection right from the start. 

And by wanting it, it becomes more a chore than a joy. 

We all need more joy!

And why is it these two of my five cats ignore me completely until I sit down to create?

Happy PPf!

Fat cats, skinny cats, cats that sit on your head....

I hated the fact that I couldn't seem to paint a cat... So I kept at it! I mean how hard is it really to come up with a cartoon like cat? So I also happened to be going through Carla sonheim's book of drawing exercises and her first one was drawing cats, plus I'm seeing a lot of cats on blogs lately because of Amy's free cat classes,(even though I didn't see that particular class myself), so here goes.... I like these cats much better than my last try on canvas. These are in my second altered book, I'm putting a lot of Carla's drawing exercises in this book too. The fat cat is colored pencil, the skinny cat is acrylic over collage, the three
round cats are watercolor over gesso over tissue, and then there's one on a book page with acrylic and marker and the last is doodled in marker over a mailing envelope. The cat that sits on your head didn't quite get finished yet.

I also stuck in another page I did in my goddess altered book.... It's marker and a little acrylic over the book page... I started it because some challenge weeks ago , maybe an I.f., was vanity. I should say, since I don't think you can read the words, that she't not vain, she's just strong, confident and independent! I didn't get it done on time to post it to the challenge, but I'm adding it in this week with my cats, and linking up to paint party Friday and butterfly effect whose theme this week is book pages! I really love painting right on the pages so the words show thru.... More to come soon!


I have been so inspired to create lately!

I've been reading a few art books,

then I've been checking out other people's favorite art on Pinterest, which is totally addicting,

And then I've seen such really great stuff on etsy too while i've been Christmas shopping on there!

So much to make and so little time!